While records are made to be broken, there’s one thing that Bridgeport High School senior Michael Duez did this past Saturday that no one will be able to claim. Duez was the winner of the boys’ portion of the Harrison County Cross Country Championship meet last week – the first-ever held at Watters Smith State Park.

 

Duez, who can always lay claim to the first-ever win at the course according to BHS Coach Jon Griffith, was a big reason the Indians won their eighth straight boys title at the county level. The girls also had a banner day as they won their sixth straight championship.

 

Bridgeport’s didn’t just win the event on the boys side, they dominated it. Incredibly, the first 11 runners to cross the finish line were all wearing the red and white. Duez led the way with a time of 18 minutes, 3.47 seconds. He was followed in the top five by Jimmy Lacaria (18:06.56), Ian Frailey (18:23.53), Arryn Tennant (18:33.15) and Jack Funk (18:37.59). Rounding out the top seven scorers – those that comprised the winning total – were Troy Pallay (18:50.88) and Drake Bolle (18:57.41)

 

“(Michael) ran a great race and he did it against some great competition.  Jimmy, Ian, Arryn and the rest of the boys didn’t hand it to him,” said Griffith. “He had to work hard for the win and the honor of setting that initial course record.”

 

Bridgeport’s girls had just three finishers in the top 10, but had too much depth for the rest of the field. Kendall Kirk was the top finisher in fourth place with a time of 23 minutes, 51.91 seconds. Savannah Blythe was eighth (24:16.75) and Jenna Love finished 10^th (24:44.94).

 

Griffith is hoping the effort his team showed last week will carry over into this Saturday’s Big 10 Championship. The meet will be held at Robert C. Byrd High School.

 

“As far as helping us for the Big 10, the meet at Watters Smith State Park has an enormous hill early in the race, much like the course at RCB,” said Griffith. “That may be the single most important benefit of running that meet.  Plus it never hurts to win and derive a little more confidence heading forward.”

 

While the boys and girls have dominated the county cross country scene, the same can’t be said in the Big 10. The girls have just one league title, which came in 2011. The boys’ lone win came during last season’s state championship campaign.

 

“The cross country program at BHS was starting in 1994 and has limped along for quite some time.  Low numbers and lack of interest has plagued the team from its onset until a few years ago,” said Griffith. “Since the mid 2000’s, we have seen steady improvement in both teams.  That growth led to improvement in the amount of success the program obtained and escalated both additional growth and even more success.”

 

Griffith said this weekend’s meet will feature some of the area’s top programs. On the girls’ side of things, Preston is ranked No. 8 in Class AAA, and in Class AA/A Philip Barbour is No. 2, East Fairmont is at No. 8 and North Marion is at No. 10. Bridgeport comes in at No. 7.

 

Along with top-ranked BHS in Class AA/A, Philip Barbour brings in its No. 7-ranked squad. In Class AAA, the Elkins boys’ team is ranked No. 7.

 

This Saturday’s meet is important on many fronts, according to Griffith.

 

“This meet is the last chance of the season for some of our athletes to compete.  They will be fighting to make the final spots on varsity for the regional and hopefully the state meet.  They are very aware of the situation and I expect there to be quite a battle in both races, but especially in the boys’ race,” said Griffith. “For the boys, there are seven of our boys fighting for the last two spots on varsity.  These kids are all great runners, athletes and competitors.  None of them will give up without a fight.”

 

One thing working against all the runners – boys and girls for Bridgeport – is the fact they have not run the RCB course this year. It will be a new challenge.

 

“We were there last year for the Harrison County Championships, but I understand there have been a few changes since then, because of changes to some of the other athletic venues there.  The coaches I have spoken with that ran the Eagle Invitational earlier this year, said that the course is a little narrow in some places and mentioned a few other minor issues,” said Griffith, who said those issues will likely be addressed in time for the meet.

 

Action begins at 9 a.m. with the boys’ competition. The girls will follow up at 9:45 a.m. The boys and girls junior varsity events will take place shortly after the varsity action is complete.

 

The Class AA/A Region II championship will be Thursday, Oct. 23 at Warm Springs Middle School in Berkeley Springs. The boys run at 12:30 p.m. and the girls begin at 1:15 p.m.